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A Case for the Role of Science-Fiction in Theatre Stephen B. Platt

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Stranger in a Stage Land: A case for the role of Science-fiction in Theatre Stephen B. Platt This dissertation is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Murdoch University, Perth, 2020. ii I declare that this dissertation is my own account of my research and contains as its main content work which has not been previously been submitted for a degree at any tertiary education institution. _______________________________ Stephen B. Platt iii iv Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge the contributions of the following people for their impact upon and assistance with my work on this project: To Dr. Melissa Merchant – It was you who put the idea of post-graduate study into my head, so technically this is all your fault. Thank you. To Prof. Jenny De Reuck and Dr. David Moody – You taught me a lot as an undergraduate and as an Honours student. I was and am still thrilled that you agreed to supervise the beginning of this project and you have remained stalwart supporters of both it and of me ever since. To Dr. Kathryn Trees – You came on board to supervise more than two years into this project and helped get it over the line. I have learnt a lot from you about writing, reading, and analysing academically, as well as the fun one can have doing it. To Mary, Jules, Herbert, Sydney, Gene, Gerry, Verity, Jeff, George, Steven, Terry, Rob, Douglas, Doug, and Rebecca – thank you for the inspirations. To the friends who I met at Murdoch – there are hundreds of you who I have had the pleasure to meet in my time at the University, and I feel very lucky to still call you friends. Thank you for the support and friendship. To the cast and crew of @lantis – thank you for taking part in the adventure. It was no small undertaking, but you all helped me realise a long held creative ambition of mine and I am extremely grateful. To Mum, Dad, Rebecca, Michael, and Charlie – Thank you for always supporting my endeavours; no matter how obscure, difficult, time-consuming, or just plain weird they are. To Joy, Malcolm, Brodie, Alysha, Emily, and Flynn – your support, in ways both big and small, is all appreciated. To Gibson the Dog – you were born the month I started my university studies back in 2007, and you have been a consistent study companion throughout it all. Thank you for being a good boy. To Dr. Sarah Courtis – Thank you for leading the way and for being the best friend I could have hoped for on this academic journey. And finally, to my wife Dr. Ellin Sears – Thank you for love, support, advice, and care you gave to me throughout my studies whilst completing your own. I am looking forward to today in tomorrow’s clothes. 1 2 Abstract Science fiction is one of the most popular genres across the major entertainment mediums, except theatre. Despite science fiction plays existing for almost as long as there has been science fiction literature, the genre has failed to flourish on stage as it has done in the mediums of cinema, literature, television, and interactive entertainment like video games. Theatre in the twenty-first century has shown encouraging signs of growth and development for science fiction stage shows, and live performance spaces, practitioners, and production companies have the potential to breed the next great works of the genre. Academia relating specifically to science fiction theatre is also an emerging practice. Ralph Willingham’s Science Fiction and the theatre (1994) remains amongst the most comprehensive compendiums of the genre’s stage history, but a number of contemporary researchers and academics are beginning to examine the practice of science fiction theatre in greater detail. By considering the work of academics on science fiction and the history of the genre, both on and off the stage, I show that science fiction and the theatre possess many benefits for one another when combined in practice. My research uses a multi-modal approach, drawing upon the theories of Practice as Research, Audience Reception theory, and the Iterative Cyclical Web, to demonstrate how practitioners can develop science fiction texts for live performance spaces that effectively create and explore the genre’s themes, values, and stories. The exegesis explores the genealogy of science fiction in theatre and contains documentation of my creative artefact used to examine the processes of creating original science fiction for the stage; the staged radio play series @lantis. Written and directed by myself, @lantis was a two-year long project that featured the contributions of more than fifty actors, sound designers, foley artists, theatre technicians, visual artists, and musicians which culminated in seven individual episodes between sixty and ninety minutes long, performed live as a work of theatre to an audience, as well as being recorded and broadcast online as audio plays. The exegesis concludes with an analysis of data collected from surveys taken by @lantis audience members and in-depth discussions about potential areas of interest for contemporary and upcoming science fiction theatre practitioners. 3 4 Reading Order This exegesis consists of the following components: 1. The dissertation Stranger in a Stage Land: a case for the role of Science Fiction in Theatre. 2. Appendices including the website for @lantis, the completed script for the first episode of @lantis (Episode One: Fish Out of Water), and four reviews of live performances of @lantis. 3. A Bibliography and Reference List of academic readings, articles, films, literature, stage productions, and other media cited in Stranger in a Stage Land: a case for the role of Science Fiction in Theatre. 4. The seven audio episodes of @lantis. 5. Video recording of the seven live theatrical performances of @lantis. 6. The scripts of episodes two through seven of @lantis. The audio episodes, video recordings, and additional @lantis scripts are separate attachments from the dissertation. Readers can approach the content presented in any order that they wish. I would advise that readers should familiarise themselves with at least one episode of @lantis before reading Chapter Five – My Theatre Praxis, as that chapter discusses the production in detail. It is at the reader’s discretion how they choose to interact with @lantis; whether that be reading the script(s), listening to one or more of the audio episodes, watching one or more of the video recordings of the stage performances, or any combination thereof. If you choose to watch the video recording of Episode Seven – It’s a Wonderful Mind, there was a technical fault when recording that resulted in there being no audio captured on camera until five minutes and twenty-six seconds in. To hear the missing dialogue, please listen to the audio version of Episode Seven. This video also concludes with a speech from myself given on stage thanking the cast and crew of @lantis. It is not part of the scripted performance. 5 6 Table of Contents Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... 1 Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Reading Order ............................................................................................................................... 5 Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... 7 Glossary of Terms.......................................................................................................................... 9 Table of Figures, Images, and Tables .......................................................................................... 13 Chapter One – Introduction ........................................................................................................ 15 Chapter Two – Literature Review ............................................................................................... 23 Chapter Three – Methodologies ................................................................................................. 47 Chapter Four – The Theatre Genealogy of Science Fiction ......................................................... 69 Chapter Five – My Theatre Praxis ............................................................................................. 115 Chapter Six – Analysis of Survey Data ....................................................................................... 153 Chapter Seven – Discussions and Findings ............................................................................... 171 Chapter Eight – Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 189 Appendices – Website for @lantis............................................................................................ 197 Appendices – Script for @lantis Episode One: Fish Out of Water ............................................ 199 Appendices – Reviews for @lantis ............................................................................................ 281 Bibliography & References ........................................................................................................ 289 7 8 Glossary of Terms The following glossary is a list of terms that I use within the exegesis. Foley – A practice whereby sound effects are created either live or pre-recorded to be used in entertainment mediums including theatre and film. Live foley is where
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